Lynx slip to swinton defeat

IN their opening fixture in the Northern Ford Premiership, Lynx went down to defeat against local rivals Swinton Lions.

Throughout the game Lynx had plenty of quality possession but lacked the power to break the Swinton defensive line when in good attacking positions. Swinton did, however, possess such a player in loose forward Paul Smith whose strong running caused Lynx problems all afternoon.

Despite the defeat, Lynx coach Graham West was still upbeat after the game saying: "Swinton were a strong side with plenty of experienced players, our side is full of young players who have done well on the short time they have been together.

"I don't expect miracles from the players and it was expected that we would make errors but unfortunately we were punished for them. The spirit in the team is good and I am still looking to bring players in as we have no back up for injuries at the moment.

"We had many good field positions but lacked a cutting edge to finish off the moves. I was also pleased with the effort of the prop forwards Dean Conway and Mike Prescott and I also thought that our kicking game was excellent." Lynx had the perfect start with a try from Paul Cookson in the fourth minute after good work from Paul Roberts and Ian Talbot. This try only served to trigger Swinton into action and they put severe pressure on the Lynx defence with Paul Smith looking the danger man.

They came close in the eleventh minute but the Lynx defence managed to bundle Matt Bateman into touch by the corner flag. The inevitable Swinton try soon followed when danger man Smith broke clear and he sent ex Great Britain international Paul Loughlin under the post, Mick Nanyn adding the conversion.

Lynx started to test the Swinton defence but they lacked the power to break the defensive line although they did draw level with a Stuart Fisher penalty in the 22 minute.

Swinton hit back strongly with two further tries before the half hour mark through Paul Smith and Andy Cheetham, both coming from defensive errors by Lynx, Mick Nanyn adding two conversions to give the visitors a 12 point advantage.

Lynx finished the half strongly but the nearest they came was to force a drop out three minutes from the break. This left Swinton with an 18-6 half time advantage.

Swinton struck first four minutes into the second half when Paul Smith again broke clear and this time he sent in Mick Nanyn. Lynx hit back almost immediately with a fine individual try from Gareth Potter, converted by Stuart Fisher.

Any real hopes of a Lynx victory ended when scrum half Stuart Fisher was sin binned for an alleged trip on Phil Veivers. Lynx's defence did well to hold out for most of the ten minutes, but they were finally breached in the 67 minute with a second try from Mick Nanyn. Swinton completed the scoring three minutes from time with a try from Paul Crossland to give them a comfortable victory.